Copyright laws protect original expressions including performances captured in audio and/or visual form. Digital technologies such as computers and the internet have introduced a myriad of challenges to rights holders, since the use of such technologies allows for exact copies of media to be made without degradation. For instance, theoretically, an image obtained using a capture device such as a digital still camera or digital video camera may be copied an infinite number of times by a theoretically infinite number of persons. If any such copying is unauthorized, rights holders may have legal recourse, but may face tremendous difficulty in tracing and proving the extent of such unauthorized copying. Furthermore, perfect-quality copies may become so widespread as to impair the value of the original content.
The proliferation of digital technology also affects rights holders with respect to live performances. For instance, the ever-increasing ubiquity of digital cameras creates a point of conflict for rights holders, such as performers or venue management authorities. Specifically, concert goers are accustomed to taking digital photographs of themselves and their surroundings using digital cameras and the like. However, in a concert setting, such cameras could be used to capture content which is owned by, e.g., the performer. Therefore, generally speaking, most venues and performers prohibit attendees at a performance from even bringing a content capture device such as a digital camera into the venue. Even if the venue or performer wished to grant the attendee a limited right to use his capture device, due to the innate nature of digital content, the venue or performer would have no guarantee that the attendees would honor any such limits.
In response to the challenges posed by the proliferation of digital content capture and management devices, various digital rights management (DRM) schemes and techniques have been developed. For example, different DRM implementations include, but are not limited to, Microsoft Windows Media DRM, Open Mobile Alliance DRM, Open MG (Sony), Fair Play (i.e. Apple iTunes), and the MPEG 21 rights expression language and rights data dictionary. These and other DRM implementations may be used to render content in a DRM-compatible format.
Generally speaking, content in a DRM-compatible format is encrypted or otherwise encoded so that the content may not be freely accessed and copied. For instance, a DRM implementation may provide for degraded content access or no access at all unless a separate record of digital rights is available/verified. For example, a DRM-compatible playback or viewing application may query a license database to determine whether a particular file may be accessed. If so, the license database may provide a key for the viewing application to decrypt and play the file. If the DRM-compatible file is moved to an unauthorized computer, an attempt to access the file will fail if a license does not extend to the second computer.
However, a DRM implementation is of little value if the content is available in non-protected form. For instance, although a performer or concert promoter could apply DRM to its own still images from a concert, unprotected still images would still be available from attendees who used digital capture devices at the event. Therefore, there remains a need for the performer, concert promoter, venue, or other rights holder to be able to implement a DRM policy or DRM policies with regard to content that is captured by third parties unaffiliated with the rights holder, such as concert attendees.